The boys of Pentagon have been busy since ‘Gorilla,’ most notably teaming up with HyunA for her latest release, not to mention the special project called Triple H, as well as Produce 101. But now the members of Pentagon are all together for their autumn mini-album ‘Demo_01.’

“Like This” starts out a bit soft, but I like the artificial harmonics (bell-like sounds) on the guitar track here. It doesn’t take long for the track to get up to speed, with Yeo One’s belts and Wooseok’s awesome gravelly raps. Hui pushes the chorus beyond the pale, though. The song has several layers and a couple time changes that make it pop. This is a lit club-banger, and a great way to start the album.

“It’s Over” starts out with some interesting synth flourishes. Interestingly, E’Dawn gets the first part, with some edgy sounding half-raps that mesh nicely with the main tune. Wooseok starts the second verse too, which gives this tune more punch. The soft bridges and main vocals wrap and keep you warm like down. Overall, this is a fantastic tune.

“One More Night” has that tropical house beat that you hear a lot of nowadays. But they manage this well. It’s still distinct from the dozens of other tunes with similar elements. The fact that the two rappers handle the second verse is delightful. It’s a bouncy, cheerful tune, and I’m a fan of the style anyway. It’s a light club-banger — danceable, high-tempo, and hooky.

“Get That Drink” is 100% pure hip hop, with Yuto, Wooseok and E’Dawn spitting fire for all they’re worth. This is a tune that I instantly took to, with multiple hooks and a catchy beat. All three of them just slay here, using a sampled melody sparingly, with backbeats with some native-sounding rhythms. I think the use of more traditional instruments (but less traditional for pop) really pushes this song to the next level.

“When I Was In Love” is a more or less traditional ballad. I think the fact that they rap during the song kept my interest from flagging. Not only that, Pentagon has some really top-flight vocalists, and they really show that here. Falsetto aside, the boys can definitely carry a tune and insert some vocal pyrotechnics without ruining the track.

I’m aware that I wasn’t kind to their first release. And I stand by that. It just didn’t flow as well as I liked. With this one, they’ve really raised the bar, though, and show what they can do. If I didn’t care for the first one, the second EP is really memorable. And it’s got some unique parts to it that work well this time around. Did I like it? Oh yeah. Every. Single. Track.

I can say they’re certainly watching the competition. I can see all sorts of elements that I’ve seen in other places, like the boy in a box or the piano outside that all the members are clustered around. But it’s not the elements themselves — it’s how they’re packaged.

And they package it quite well. In the beginning, it seems like all the members are sitting around in the individual shots. The boys look lonely, sometimes frustrated. And as the song gets livelier, the frustration mounts, and manifests itself in a more animated, angrier way. So the song and the MV go really well together.

It’s beautifully shot, too. They let the light frame some of the scenes, which is pretty artistic. Also, they don’t linger in any one scene too long, so they don’t let you get bored.

The dancing here is on point. When they do dance, they wait til the music rises, and then they spin and bounce, stabbing and slashing the air with bold and confident moves, and it adds a little something when one of the members breaks formation and heads straight for you. Very dynamic.

So yeah, while this video could be cliche, they put it all together really, really well. I really enjoyed watching this one.